Friday Fun - December 19, 2025

Welcome to my Friday Fun post. This is where I share with three different book parties that post on Fridays: Book Beginnings on Fridays, the Friday 56, and First Line Friday.

This week I have two books to share with you.

I read an eARC of The Girl Upstairs by Jessica R. Patch.

I am also starting a reread of the Hunger Games series so I can read the newest book before the movie comes out next year. So, I started The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins this evening.

        Book Beginnings on Friday     

(Please join Gilion Dumas for Book Beginnings every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name.)

and

First Line Friday

(Please join Carrie for First Line Friday.)

Here are my Book Beginnings/First Line Friday selections:

 The Girl Upstairs by Jessica R. Patch:

"She can breathe easy since she feels no consequences."

Who was being referred to here? And why did she feel no consequences?

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins:

"When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold."

I've read this book/series multiple times, and I can't remember my original reaction to this beginning. But knowing why she is alone in the bed is so sad.

Now for:

The Friday 56 

The Friday 56 is normally hosted over at Freda's Voice. But Anne from My Head is Full of Books is taking over for a while. 

Rules:

*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader
(If you have to improvise, that's ok.)
(If you have to improvise, that's ok.)
 *Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grab you.
*Post it.
*Add your (url) post below in Linky. Add the post url, not your blog url. It's that simple.

Here are my Friday 56 selections:

The Girl Upstairs by Jessica R. Patch:

"'What about when Roger Wagner lived in the house? His wife died and then his daughter ran away, and he moved a few years later, right? Does anyone know what happened to Lily Ann?' Could she be the girl upstairs? The bones in the woods?

Marcia says nothing.

' Anything nefarious there?' I ask."

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins:

"I realize I detest Haymitch. No wonder the District 12 tributes never stand a chance. It isn't just that we've been underfed and lack training. Some of our tributes have still been strong enough to make a go of it. But we rarely get sponsors and he's a big part of the reason why."

Reviews:

I still need to write my reviews for the books I've finished in the last few weeks. However, I did get my review written for the book I finished this evening. 

The Girl Upstairs by Jessica R Patch